Page 64 of Monster's Pet

“Already done.”

I ate my own berry. The cold was a shock that I had forgotten about. I felt denser, like it was harder to float. I was definitely ready to return home.

Professor Akhtar activated the portal, and we swam through after we had returned to our usual forms.

The warmth of the swimming pool was a relief. I swam quickly up to the surface, breaking through and taking a deep breath of fresh air.

Aiden was close behind me, and we pushed ourselves up onto the edge of the pool.

I felt waterlogged, shaky, and my magic pulling on my bones. “Is this normal?” I gasped, rubbing my hands together.

Professor Puddlemoan surfaced not too long after us. “You’ll feel the call of the water for a few hours,” he saidsympathetically, rubbing his hand over his bald spot. “You’ll also be dehydrated for a few days. Make sure you drink lots of water.”

“Dehydrated?” I repeated, chuckling. “It feels like the opposite right now!”

Even talking quietly, everything felt too loud after the silence of being underwater for the day.

“You’ll see what I mean in a few hours,” the professor said. “Run along now.”

I shook my head. “I need to talk to Professor Akhtar,” I insisted. “It’s important.”

“You need to get out of those wet things.” Professor Puddlemoan’s uncharacteristic sympathy vanished with a frown. He wasn’t used to students arguing with him.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to resist him for long. Professor Akhtar appeared, swimming with strong strokes to the pool’s edge nearby.

I got to my feet and took a few wobbly steps over to him. “We need to talk about Aiden’s idea!” I exclaimed excitedly. “Now that we know that the ley lines aren’t missing entirely, we can try to triangulate the position of the drain, or dam, or whatever the problem is!”

Professor Akhtar shook his shaggy head like a dog, spraying water everywhere. “Where do you suggest we go for the third data point?”

“Easter Island,” Aiden said immediately, coming to stand beside me. “I’d like to come, too, if you don’t mind.”

“We’re going to need your math skills,” I said.

“Good to know your limits,” Professor Akhtar said dryly. “We can go tomorrow.”

“Why not today?”

The professor raised one eyebrow. “Can you stand on your own two feet for longer than five minutes?”

I was already weakening. I could see his point.

“One more day isn’t going to make a difference,” he continued gently. “What have you got tomorrow?”

“Qualitative Spellcraft and Magical Creatures,” I said.

Professor Akhtar made a face. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind missing tomorrow afternoon’s class?” He phrased it like a question, and I wondered how much he knew about our pet.

“We are at your disposal,” Aiden said.

“Great.” Our teacher heaved himself out of the pool, water splashing around our feet. “I’ve got some measurements to do here before we go anyway.”

“Can I help?” I asked.

“You need to recover. I need your mind sharp tomorrow, not dehydrated and sluggish.”

“Excuse you, I have never been sluggish!” I pouted.

“Except for after the holidays when we needed to get used to the lack of ley lines,” Aiden pointed out.

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